Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Reviews

Simple, Clean & Built Right! I will be purchasing a Focusrite Clarett 8Pre X as soon as the thunderbolt connection is approved by Sweetwater for my Creation Station 450v!

I'll share with you what I think later after using it awhile, but so far it looks and sounds great!

Perfect for playing any genre of music you want. I do not need any pedals like in the old days. Just right for jammin at home in my office. Love it !!

I'm not normally wowed by low priced interfaces, but this time I was surprised when comparing the 2i2 to the Apogee Duet 2 that I also own. While the 2i2 lacks the functionality and more refined playback DAC that the Apogee Duet 2 has, the recording quality is remarkably close if not almost identical with the built in pres of both units and my Studio Projects C1 microphone and Blue Quad mic cable, and the headphone monitoring is quite sufficient and does a great job driving my headphones cleanly, even with my lower impedance monitoring headphones, which is an area that the Duet 2 was lacking. The main differences between the two units are that the Duet 2 has more gain in its preamps, and the Duet 2 can handle considerably higher input levels in mic and instrument mode vs the Scarlett 2i2, but unless you are playing really loud genres of music it should be sufficient for most beginning users. The Duet 2 has less latency and has a more flexible monitoring arrangement than the 2i2, but for the low price the Scarlett 2i2 is more than sufficient for my needs. For the price, you will be hard pressed to find a better budget option, unless you are able to spend more money, then your options increase. Highly recommended!

I love the ease of use and reliability of the Scarlett 2i2.

Ahhhhhhhh, low latency. I went from a useless 20ms down to an awesome 5ms with this unit. So so nice. Works great, clean recordings all in a small package. Love the colored gain knobs, really helpful getting the right levels quickly. Haven't used the Plug-in software suite yet, but the hardware is great. Gets my recommendation!

this little thing rocks, and in between 2x Roki 5 g3 monitors its like glaze on donuts, and i love the service i was able to enjoy myself to some candy that was included with my purchase, That was awesome.

The Focusrite 2i2 does so much more than anticipated. The plug-ins are a great help in recording and editing and the unit setup and use was so much easier than I originally thought. My recordings sound professional, even with my little home studio (which is just my one of the back rooms in my house). I will recommend this to anyone in need of such a unit, for it is truly worth the money!

crystal clear sound.. I went from 90% pro sounding recording to 97% pro sounding
going to upgrade to the scarlett 3.0 usb soon I was impressed with this

Super easy to use if you have a macbook pro. Right out of the box i was impressed with the look, size, and solid build. As for sound quality i was impressed also. I definitly recommend for someone who wants to record quick and mobile

This audio interface is really great! I use it with a Rode NTK mic and it works perfectly! It also has built in phantom power which saved me more time and money. But the thing that really stands out for me is how great the plug-ins are. They are a bit hard to download at first, but once you get them hooked up to your DAW (I use Logic Pro X), they really work well. The Plug-Ins are worth the price WITHOUT the interface. I took a rough take, in a not studio proofed room, and just by turning them on, the vocals instantly sounded 10x better. I totally recommend this.

Great product. Intuitive set-up, works right out of the box with Mac/Logic/Garageband. Received it and was in use 5 minutes later. Sounds great, and the LED gain/clip lights are very useful for level setting.

I have had trouble with other interfaces out of the box on my MacBook Pro. I purchased the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 based upon the recommendation of my Sweetwater pro. The USB 2.0 worked right from the start and provides an excellent integration of my mic and six-string steel guitar.

Easy to use and good sounding interface.

A lot to learn, so very new to this. Looking forward to my first recording.

The interface is clean and powerful. The mic is just what I wanted. I had a problem with the headphones after over a year, and Focusrite replaced them while treating me like a human. I willbuy Focusrite equipment again.

So, the Scarlett 2i2. I like it as much as everyone else. I went from zero to recording in 28 hours. As in I ordered it one morning, it was delivered the next day (it finally pays to live in the midwest), and I was up and going within 20 minutes of ripping open the box. It would have been less but I had to download Ableton Live Lite. I like that, too, by the way. Ableton isn't as intuitive as some other DAW I've used but it's capable and...free!

What really blew me away was the service I got from Sweetwater. I got a call within an hour of ordering. Chris asked if I needed cables to go with the Scarlett. I didn't but it was a great idea to check. I would have been bummed if the box arrived and I didn't have the right cables to get it up and running. Within another hour, I got a shipping confirmation. The next day, the box arrived. I used to do a lot of business with a huge internet subsidiary or a huger box store subsidiary of a capital holding firm. No more. Sweetwater is good people. Privately owned. Knowledgeable. Accountable. The prices are as good or better than the other guys so you're better off ordering here.

Generally, I compose in layers and this little baby is perfect for just that.

I use it with Linux and Ardour 4 and it's just plug and play (or record, as the case may be). The hardware monitoring is great for over dubs and strict timing applications so I rarely have to messing with realigning the timing of the audio. It overdrives "gracefully" in that it's not harsh sounding and the one time I didn't catch the peaking, I actually left it in the recording because it disappeared into the mix well enough.

The best thing about this little box is it let me get started right away with recording. Sure, I can't record a set of drums or a full band directly, but I would much rather get SOMETHING down than wait until I somehow scrape together enough for an interface with more inputs.

The portability of it is awesome. I need my buddy to lay down a screaming guitar solo? Grab this box, my laptop and a small headphone amp with a couple sets of headphones and we're golden.

I would totally buy this again!

Adjusts to my DAW and my recorded voice (well, computer wise) sounds great. And music, especially with Spotify is wonderful.

clean and simple - i have arthritis and wish the gain nobs were bigger, but, that's my problem

Exactly what I was looking for in a cheaper interface to run monitors, be able to track with phantom power and have guitar running at the same time (if needed) also great free plugins

Bought the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 it arrived 3 days ago. I use a Macbook Pro with Logic Pro X. This little box works great. Fantastic sound.

It is plug-and-play on the Mac. No downloads needed.

I've read some of the reviews that express frustration over the lack of ability to control volume with this set-up. I've had no problems, however there are a couple of caveats. If you are using an acoustic guitar with active pickups (ie, you put a battery in the guitar for electronics), the output from the guitar is too "hot" for this box. You won't be able to control the volume. However, if you run the guitar through a direct box (or, if you simply turn the guitar volume way down), it works fine. I like to leave my guitar volume at the max setting, but I always run it through a direct box and run a balanced input into the box. When you set it up properly, it works great.

Great little box for the price.

I am a professional musician, and I have an avid interest in audio production. I have a great deal of experience in production in both audio and video, as I also have my own video production company. I rely on having a good audio interface in my system, whether it's to demo a new song for my band, or lay down a voice-over for a video project I'm working on.

I have been disappointed by many of the interfaces on the market today, but I can say without hesitation that the sound quality, ease-of-use, as well as the overall functionality of the Scarlett 2i2 is phenomenal. I would HIGHLY recommend this interface to anyone with a limited budget. This interface can compete with other interfaces costing twice as much.

Works great, I picked the right choice for the best price.

This was EXACTLY what I needed for my home studio. My KRK Rokit 5s sound great and now I can run Serato AND Ableton and any windows sounds through my monitors at the same time and also have a master volume for everything and a headphone input. So convenient! And on top of that it looks really nice and feels really strong. No complaints here!

The simplest of operations. Plug and play for Mac, GREAT EQ and mic pre plug-ins that came for free with it. Well worth the price and am super happy with the result. Have already ran mics (cardioid and ribbon), guitars and keys through it and am very pleased with the results. Quality product.

Perfect for home recording, it's plug and play ! The colored lights around the input dials let you adjust to maximum signal without cutting out. I'm using my Scarlett's 2i2 with Reaper DAW + Windows 10, and it works flawless. I have 3 guitars (ESP), guitar workstation, a bass, keyboard, electronic drums (Alesis dm6), mixer, and mic which all record through the Scarlette with no problems.

Easy to understand manual and controls. From the box to recording in minutes. Flawless operation. Love the illuminated green to red level indicators. Thank you Mark Bruhn and the Sweetwater crew for pointing me in the right direction. Dave G.

Zero issues. I have a Mac so I just plugged it in and started recording. I bought this as a portable counterpart to my Safire Pro. Amazing bang for the buck.

What a great time I had at Sweetwater. Terrific company, terrific people, and 1st class studios. Will soon be doing a review of my Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 purchase, right after I have some free time. On the road as usual. Rick Nielsen

Don't do reviews but I love it. Does what it is suppose to do.

It's an amazing piece of equipment. Form the un boxing I was like nice and when I fired it up and layed down a few tracks I was just impressed with its quality of sound . So easy to use. Very strongly built.and portable.

this is the best deal ever!!!

Zero latency! Nice interface! Drivers are great! Made for Amplitube!

I am currently using the Scarlett 2i2 to push M-Audio AV 40's through 85' of TRS cable. Richard Whittington at Sweetwater recommend the 2i2 for my home active speaker set up and I love it there. The retail store speaker's volume was a whisper with a direct connection to an Apple computer. I moved my 2i2 to the store and volume levels are louder than we will ever need. Active speakers, the 2i2 and your choice of streaming music is a great alternative to either docking stations for iPads or MP3 players. This is a very cost effective solution for a small business. Roughly $300.00 for all parts (with M-Audio AV 40's, 2i2 and cables) assuming you have a computer to use for the music streaming or library. Set-up is simple. USB to Computer and TRS cables to the 2i2. Obviously, the choice of speakers is based on personal taste, volume requirements and budget.

I love this thing! I use the Scarlett for primarily for recording voice for radio commercials in my home studio, and it's exactly what I needed. Powerful, crisp and very clean sound. The phantom power is perfect for my AKG P220. Set up was a snap...literally one USB cable from the the back of the unit into my computer (you can hook it up to monitor speakers if you want to, but it's not essential). Small, lightweight, and very well-built...it brings the goods in a small, affordable package.

I mainly use this interface on a PC set up running Ubuntu 14.04LTS, and this thing works flawlessly on it. No setup required at all, and Guitarix works wonderful with it. Zero latency, and the recording quality is totally clean.

If you use Linux the search for an affordable, and compatible, interface is over!

works better than expected

Great little box, zero latency in Abelton Live. Works great with my kaossilator pro +, and my Roland VT-3. Havn't tried it with my guitar yet, but soon...

This thing is perfect. I really like how all inputs and outputs, are stereo!

I'm so intimidated by this audio recording stuff but I MUST do my art. The Sweetwater guys helped me decide on this first piece of equipment to go with my DAW. It worked right out the box! Crisp clear sound. Super simple interface. I couldn't screw it up. Just what I needed.

Great product. I bought a used one and it actually crapped out on me. I still give the thing 5 stars. Bought one new from SW and haven't had any problems.

I bought this to replace my Presonus Audiobox...
All im going to say is this Interface is worth the money.
i run windows 8 and it works perfectly.

I'm an audiobook narrator/producer. I replaced my old preamp with a Scarlett 2i2, and presto! No more background noise, no more hiss, no nothing. Dead ambient room sound. The final piece to the puzzle.

A few months ago, I purchased the Focusrite, Scarlett 2i2 recording interface to replace my old Tascam US-122 interface. I couldn't be happier with it...it sounds so clear, no noice at all, no latency issues to speak of. It's rugged built, looks nice, is light weight, compact...doesn't take up much space. It's very, very simple to use, and the knob/control layout is very clean, simple and functional. Headphone amp is very loud, and it has the full 1/4" headphone jack. I do want to mention, that to plug a guitar or bass straight into, is just tooo hot, a simple direct box like the Rolls DB25b has worked amazingly well with it. My only minor gripe is that the install is somewhat tedious, but what isn't nowadays?? However, they provide video instructions for this. Didn't care for the plug in suite, couldn't get it to work or show up in my DAW.

For a budgeted bedroom musician this is a great interface for its price. I recommend this 100%

I needed good input & output from my 24" iMac to record services at my church and a good sounding way to play audio from video. . I tried the built in mic & headphone jacks but the sound was not very good or reliable. Sweetwater recommended this and it is amazing. Not only am I able to play and record but I can now listen with the headphone jack and it is amazing. Before this I was using my iPad and all we had was a Windows machine. I am mow a very happy man. Thank you Sweetwater for your great advice and support. I look forward to using more Focusrite products in the future.

This is a great product. Records well. Lots of functions like phantom power, line and mic switch, signal light, 1/4" and XLR jacks, and the Ableton lite that comes with it is pretty awesome.

The Scarlett 2i2 surpassed all of my expectations! I upgraded from my broken Behringer Xenyx X1222, and thinking back on it, I definitely should have gone with this the first time!
My friend brought his over to do some recording and I noticed the considerable difference that the quality pre-amps made compared to my Xenyx. The noise floor is coming in at -39 decibles, which I'll be able mess with settings to get lower, and the sounds are purely amazing!
The latency is less than I was expecting! I barely notice any when I route from my computer to the speakers, but it disappears when I use the clever "Direct Monitor" switch! That one switch is what makes this audio interface stand out compared to others. Latency and noise floor are the two biggest concerns with audio interfaces and Focusrite knock both of those out of the ball park.
I am also very glad that I bought from Sweetwater, not only because of the amazing deal that they offered, but also because of their superior service, i.e. it arrived in two days with free shipping and they sent update emails concerning the arrival. If you are going to buy this product, which I highly recommend you do if you are looking for a starter or travel audio interface, then buy from Sweetwater!

Works perfectly! Everything I was looking for, and more. Great service from Sweetwater as well.

I got the Scarlett 2i2 to replace a similar but inferior model distributed by another top-rated company. The difference is obvious.
The 2i2 has a rugged (and attractive) housing, easy to access inputs, switchable mic/instrument functions, and even crazy-nice clipping lights on the inputs! The sonic quality is very high. The headphone and output preamps also seem hotter than other models.
When I need to upgrade to a larger I/O I will definitely be getting a Focusrite.

Great product - 'for the money' is a qualifier I must add, but really the next step up in quality would be a big step up in price. I was thinking about the RME Babyface, but wanted something less expensive to try out different DAW software with. Basically, I'm just recording myself playing acoustic guitar and for that purpose this does the job fine. The unit is nice- preamps are good, and the layout is functional. It worked with Mac OS X (Mavericks) and several different DAWs I tried. I record on a laptop and had to buy a USB 3.0 (this is 2.0, but compatible) powered hub since Macs have 2 usb inputs. Plugging the interface into the powered hub seemed to help the preamps and 48V powered mics... so it's probably a good idea to have a hub as well. Now onto the software - I tried several different DAWs - trial versions of Studio One, Reaper, n-track, and Reason. Each of the DAWs had strengths, but for some reason I settled on the Ableton Live Lite included with the Scarlett. It works fine for what I need (I will probably not use more than 16 tracks, which is the maximum) - the plug-ins and effects that come with Ableton are good and easy to use. Overall I like this program for live recording, which I did not expect since it is often used for electronic music. Only qualm about Ableton is the level meters are small and hard to read. Runner-up was Presonus, but their free version doesn't work with outside VST plug-ins (you have to buy their mid level software - much more $)... Which brings me to the Scarlett suite plug-ins that also come with the unit (and worked with Ableton and the other DAWs I tried except Presonus). These plug-ins are great - a solid 4/5 overall. They are probably worth at least half the price of this unit alone. The plug-ins are simple (no overkill on knobs), but useful and generally sound good. They also have nice old-school level meter graphics. I enjoy working with these, although the Ableton plug-ins are good also. Overall, this is a GREAT package. I was 'blown away' - and that doesn't happen often with products in this price range. I have nice mice and a nice guitar, but will not be in a rush to upgrade my preamp... and may stick with Ableton also. In short, this is a HUGE amount of quality for not a lot of money. I think it's a winner in this category.

Easy to set up, no set up, just plug it in and it works. Inputs on the front make it easy to plug in, has phantom power for condenser mics. Looks great. What more can you ask for.

Very professional sound. You will not be disappointed at all with this product. Sweetwater always delivers quickly and i love shopping here.

I am using this to connect my JBL LSR305. Easy to set-up. Just plug the USB to your computer, run 1/4" balanced cable to the speakers, load the drivers and you are done. This is so much better than using a built in sound card. The settings in Windows only shows 16bit even though it is a 24 bit. There website claims it is still 24 bit. It does sound great. No noise. Don't really know why there is a volume control. Have volume controls on this the computer and the monitors...to many. Solid metal construction but the switches on front are plastic which detracts from the quality.

This thing is amazing! For the money you can't get a better interface. I use it for voice-overs on my Mac Book Pro with an MKH 416 mic and I can't tell the difference between this and a pro studio. You might be able to tell the difference if you have super-human hearing that puts dogs to shame but it sounds fantastic to me.

The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 is the most effective way to record on your computer WITHOUT sacrificing microphone power or tolerating unwanted ambient sound. This solid little pre-amp plugs in via USB cable and allows you to plug in two microphones, each with an individual control (which is surrounded by a LED color monitor which tells you if you are clipping or in normal vocal range). There is an additional overall mixer gain control, not really necessary, and a jack and individual control for earphones--a must, since plugging into the mixer with a set of headphones lets you hear what you're doing WITHOUT DELAY or latency (as opposed to plugging into your computer, which WILL delay your audio and affect how you monitor your recordings). It is affordable, solid--and even attractive, with a friendly scarlett color that, which the LED lights, makes it a comforting addition to your recording equipment. Highly recommended.

Bought one of these last month, as my Focusrite Saffire 6 wasn't compatible with my new computer - glad I got this one.

I went with Focusrite since I loved my Saffire and the other budget-priced interface I tried had terrible mic pre's in 'em. The Scarlett surpasses the quality of the pre's in the Saffire by a longshot - a welcome surprise. They're clean pre's with a fair amount of headroom and the lights that tell you when you're close to clipping are nifty as well.

Overall - an excellent budget pre for a home hobbyist who wants the most out of less!

I 'm using a laptop w/ Windows 7 to run Mixcraft 6. The install was plug and play. Before using the 2i2, I was having a few latency issues that could only be solved by diverting all resources to running Mixcraft. I could use no audio enhancements or other programs that used audio while Mixcraft was open. Now, with the 2i2, I'm back to normal. Latency issues are toast. I love the functionality of this unit. It is worth every penny.

This little unit works exactly as advertised--just plug 'er into your computer and you're good-to-go. The green light/red light display around the gain knob(s) is really helpful, especially for those of us who'd rather not deal with meters. Build is rugged as others have mentioned; there's a very solid feel and quality of construction that you might not expect in a $150 preamp. Overall, I'm highly impressed with the little red box.

I was absolutely blown away by the sound of this interface. I'm a big presonus guy, but wanted to try something new for my portable interface as opposed to my Presonus audiobox 1818vsl. This is absolutely awesome. The light indicator is super helpful as opposed to just having things show up when they peak. The monior knob is nice and big and works great with my studio monitors. The headphone level is perfectly fine. I've never had issues with that.

A searched a long while for a good, reliable USB Audio Interface that could perform well. When I got this, I got exactly what I was looking for. The preamps are the best that I've heard - and the smooth outsides will keep my eyes on it anytime it's around me.

The drivers are good and easy-to-setup; latency is PAR and everything works like a charm. If you're reading this view, buy this interface.

I've recorded using both inputs at once, balanced and unbalanced, mic, instrument, and line level, with or without phantom power, and everything has turned out great on the other side. My smile reaches from ear to ear listening to it - and the direct monitoring is almost never needed since the latency is low enough.

SUMMARY: Buy it - you can thank me later.

This thing is FANTASTIC!! I used to own an EMU 0404, and that was great, but I had to downsize to an MAudio fast track. That thing was pretty cool for what I needed it for, but it was time for an upgrade. Got this, and noticed IMMEDIATE improvement in my recorded guitar tones. I use drum software for drums, and I dont have anything bass related, so I usually go without bass tracks (I need to get a bass lol). But as far as recording my guitar tracks, the mic pres and converters in the 2i2 are EXCELLENT for something in this price range. Also, it comes with 4 focusrite VSTs which are actually really good. Ive got a bunch of good ones, but these are my new go to VSTs for EQ, Compression and Gate. I dont have monitors, currently...just running everything through a set of Shure 440 headphones. Next purchase will be monitors, but this thing has all the features I needed/wanted, and it comes with some good software and has excellent hardware built into it. Cant go wrong if you need something small and portable for home recording.

Ordered it on a Thurday, it came the next day! My sales engineer called me to confirm the shipping address as it was different from my last order - a fact that I appreciate - and out it shipped.

So for the price, it has exactly what I needed: a compact, 2 channel interface that's fairly quiet, has phantom, and direct monitoring. The LED rings are a nice touch. I used it the very day I got it, recording some actors for a stage play special sound effect, and I had no hitches. I was able to get very low latency using their ASIO drvers (on an I7 Laptop), and a clean sound (through a Shure KSM32).

Can't go wrong at this price.

This thing sounds great for the price range! Sturdy feel, nice looking (the led's around the gain knobs are a nice touch), direct monitoring switch is very handy, and phantom power. What more do you want for so little money? Fits in my mobile gear bag - I bought it for remote work - but sounds better than my current digital input device (mentioning no names) so I've used it on my stationary rig already.

As usual, the Sweetwater service is exemplary! Placed the order, got a call from Nick LaMendola within an hour to confirm the shipping address as it was different from my previous order (attention to detail!), and I selected the free, 2 day shipping. I placed my order after 3PM, and it *still* came the next day! 6 Stars.

Bottom line, this thing sounds great, operates quietly, and the little suite of plugins that come with it are very useful, especially the compression, and reverb !! This unit will absolutely perform for you !!

With the Scarlett Plug in Suite being rather expensive (by itself) plus two great preamps, Inserts=(2) combo XLR-1/4 TRS Line Level or 1/4 TS Instrument Level , USB 2.0 Bus Powered, up to 24 bit 96kHZ recording specs, (2) 1/4 TRS outs to Monitors as well as TRS stereo headphone jack + the option to use direct monitoring (or) turn that option off +48V phantom power . Makes for a Audio Interface that You would think (could) cost much more , its cross platform, I use a iMac and via USB after the latest drivers installed, my computer immediately picked the Scarlett 2i2 right up! ( A very quick and seemless install and no issues with registration either) I received the unit *1 day* after ordering it and waited to do a online review just to make sure I had tried it out multiple times in different scenarios (Guitar direct in, Microphone on amp etc ) I find no issues with the Scarlett 2i2 , re:Latency (No Issues,=Preamps ,so quiet , no hiss, pops crackles (ever) and they sound so well,Just Fine! (read what Focusrite Preamps They are Based on -or Equivalent too )
This is a great deal and fits my needs just right and I have (Honestly) researched since late summer 2010 ! Ted Hunter is a Great Sales Engineer at Sweetwater (I have not bought tons of gear, but have bought gear for over the years when I have had the financial resources to do so. Thanks Sweetwater!

product is in perfect working order. as soon as i clicked the button to place the order i got a call from an actual person at sweetwater confirming my address and info they are very nice and professional and they handled my order and shipped it personally! also it only took under two full days to get to my house in Michigan from Illinois . It was packaged perfectly. not to mention when i opened the 1st outer box the encased the actual box that held the product i found candy candy and a note from a rep at sweetwater! CANDY! congrats sweetwater. first time customer now a lifetime loyal customer..... Update: ten minutes after it arriving i was called to by sweetwater (by a real person) to make sure i picked up the package because it was infact delivered. never had better service.

Awsome sound delivered by focusrite preamps plus a really friendly design and software. Absolutely no latency problems (like 14 ms with Live) nor clipping problems with direct line guitar recording (as i read over there). Great buy for entry level and for live performance.

Excellent product!!! I'm a guitar player and a songwriter and this works great with garage band. It's just right for what I need. I record acoustic and electric guitar, bass, vocals, and saxophone. It is really an impressive product for the price!!!! No complaints!!!!

Unboxed it, plugged it into my MacBook Pro, opened GarageBand, changed the input/output preference to Scarlett, and BAM! ...perfect sound, instantaneously.

Simple controls, ease of use...everything you need and nothing more to get in the way of access to your tools.

I needed a simple, uncomplicated way to capture audio directly into my computer. This device and the accompanying software gaveme everything I needed...and it doesn't take up a huge portion of my desk!

I am happy with my gear!

Im speechles. The item is far more than I expected. I can't believe what I'm got for the great price. But I am even more impressed by the customer service. Best experience ever.

Absolutely stunning. A previous review compared it to the mbox 2, and they were spot on with it being described as an "upgrade". It's almost scary how much better this thing sounds just right out of the box. Not sure if it's the preamps?...but it sounds amazing. The direct monitoring is a great feature, and it has plenty of output power! I ran a guitar direct through 1 channel while using a variety of amp sims, and if it made the guitar sound so much better, I can only imagine what it can do for vocals.
An interface that should be twice the price. And it took me under 5 minutes to setup and get things running.
Perfect!

Been cutting tracks with this for a few weeks and am quite pleased. Great that it's buss-powered! Bass, acoustic guitar, vocals all sound amazingly clear (transparent?) with very little, if any, noise that I can detect. Gear at this price usually has knobs that are unusable much past 12 o'clock. These pre's reside very nicely in the 3-4 o'clock range and even higher. I think some people who get this piece might have to rethink the gain staging in their DAW to reflect the more pro sensibility of these preamps. In other words, they're SMOOTH all the way through and oozing with quality.

For a home studio, I find the headphone output to be more than adequate but, again, don't be afraid to run the gain higher than you're used to. It might not be enough, though, for a really loud drummer using open-back headphones or a cheap pair of Skull Candy earbuds.

Latency was very low using the Focusrite ASIO4ALL driver and I haven't even used the direct monitoring feature. I use reverb and compression in Reason real-time and have not tried the plug-in suite. But with great pro-sounding preamps, very low-latency, buss power and a highly mobile footprint, the 2i2 is just what I needed.

I bought this to replace my M-Audio FastTrack Pro. I was tired of the M-Audio's buggy driver for that unit and general mediocre sound. The Scarlett 2i2 has functioned perfectly. It's sounds great, and it feels much solid than the all-plastic FastTrack. The FastTrack could also be rather noisy when the gain was turned up. The Scarlett is virtually silent and sends a nice clean signal through its rear outs. The lights surrounding the gain knobs makes a nice visual bonus. Overall, I'm very please.

this thing is awesome, easy to set up, the plug-in sweet is amazing, since this is my first interface and im new to home recording im using ableton live lite 8 as my DAW and it is so awesome and came free with this thing! i couldn't be happier.

This is FREAKING!!! Fantastic its great.

This is a absolutely awesome interface!! I've been a Pro Tools user for many years now and I can honestly say that this little box sounds WAY better than my M-Box 2 ever did!!

I upgraded from my M-Box 2 to the Scarlett 2i2 (yes that's right, upgraded) with the intention of only using it as a traveling interface for when I'm on the road but this little red box sounds so good it will be used as my main interface until I can get my Saffire Pro 40 later this year.

The preamps make all my microphones sound great. I hear things in my music I couldn't hear with my M-Box 2 and it works flawlessly with Reason 6 and Studio One 2 (my new DAW's of choice) the latency is insanely low and the drivers are rock solid on my laptop running Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.

There's a reason this is Sweetwaters most popular USB interface... no other interface gives you the sound that the Scarlett 2i2 does in or out of its price range and the Scarlett plugins are awesome too. (note: the Scarlett plugins only work in 32bit DAW's but Focusrite says they will be adding 64bit support soon)

Focusrite has great customer service both when I called them prior to making my purchase through Sweetwater and via Facebook when I posted questions on their wall. Get this interface now!!

The Scarlett 2i2 is a great interface for the price and even better than many that cost more. I use mine mainly for tracking guitar and vocals. It integrates perfectly with Pro Tools 10. The pre's sound great, there is no latency and if for any reason you experience it, there is a handy direct monitor feature built in. What was most surprising to me was the Digital to Analog converter. The quality is beyond exceptional. I like to use the interface as a playback device through my Macbook Pro into my monitors. The design of the interface itself is sleek and looks great, as well as durable. Focusrite doesn't have the best tech support but Sweetwater fortunately does. A GREAT product at a GREAT price!

This is my first audio-interface, so I can't compare it with anything else but after playing my guitar on this I have no reason to try another one. Works perfectly! Can't wait to get my microphone hooked up to this. Plus the service here at sweetwater was great! Arrived on time and they even called to let me know when it was coming.

I don't know how valued my opinon will be, for this is only my second interface. I did own a E-MU 1616m which I loved, but I purchased a new laptop which didn't have a notebook card slot so E-MU was not compatible to make a long story short. I researched within a limited price range for over-all sound quailty when pursuing this purchase. I watched a lot of YouTube videos from both the manufacturers & customers on tons of the latest & greatest interfaces. There's a lot of great prodcuts out there, so when I had narrowed down my selection, I must say, Focusrites's Scarlett 2i2 just stood out with its overall sleek design, quality & unbeatable price(Thanks Sweetwater!). I have been a hobbyist musicain for over a decade, as well I dabble in some song productions with local artists in my area, so quick setup is essential to capture the mood at its peak, the Scarlett 2i2 is great for this, no AC adapter just plug it in a USB port, then plug in your MIC and your ready!!! The overall sound is rich, warm & very, very clean. I was shocked at its superb quality. The Focusrite Scarlett Effects Suit(Compressor, Gate, EQ, & Reverb) are high quality plug-ins, a great added bonus, they allow you to get the most out of the interface with tweaking in those just perfect vocal settings. I have had NO latency problems; it just plain works great!!! I'm using with: HP ENVY14 Beats Edition, Windows7 Ultimate, Intel i7 proccessor @ 1.82 GHZ with turbo boost, 8GB RAM, Studio Projects B1 MIC, FL Studio 10(Fully Loaded), Both Korg microKONTROL & padKONTROL & everything is running great!!

I travel a lot and sometimes just for vocal comps on the fly or quick song idea. and for this purpose with my macbook pro and protools it is the ideal Mate, of course a solid mike to match focusrites mic pre's is recommended. The size is great and i like that it is solid metal box !

I have owned a ton of different interfaces and currently use a Duet 2 with a Mac as my main interface, but still needed a 2x2 for PC as well. The price was right on the Scarlett (how do they do it?) and it seemed like a great, simple little unit. I love it. It is light, but seems tough. It is great looking, and provides all of the fundamental features you need, including 0 latency monitoring. But, in truth, I am writing this review to let you know that the Scarlett Plug In Suite that comes with this FOR FREE, which is also on Sweetwater as a standalone piece of software for 99 bucks, is worth the price of the Interface alone. The plug ins are absolutely awesome. How awesome? I replaced every singe reverb plug in on a current project tonight with the Scarlett plug in, and the new presets I made from those will be my go to reverbs every time I start a project. Really great interface, really great plug ins. For 150 bucks. Amazing. Focusrite!

Purchased this the day of it's release. Solid frame to it with sturdy knobs and switches. Enough inputs for what I use it for which is recording vocals. Setup was easy! I was up and going within 5 minutes. Really crisp recording due to it's pre amps. LOVE the separate monitor and headphone volumes.

he only downfall is the length of the USB cable...it's very short could be slightly longer. And I noticed the headphone volume isn't as loud when monitoring vocals during recordings. I'm sure there's a way around this but just what I experienced during my use with the interface.

All in all you can't beat this price....well worth it and affordable!

Blown away doesn't begin to describe it. My Sweetwater Rep alerted me to this new device, and I have never regretted buying it. First off, it is small and totally rad, metallic red with an amazing look and feel to it. So durable, well-designed, and well thought-out. If you're a solo artist like me and don't want to pay extra for all of those additional inputs that you don't need, this is a killer deal. It also comes bundled with 4 world-class Scarlett Plug-ins, and Ableton Lite Live 8. All for a price that is just hard to even believe. The pre-amps alone in this unit are worth it. I cannot imagine anything even costing 3-5 x's more that offers a better value, more flexibility, and is easier to set-up and use right out of the box. Seriously, few products ever fully deliver as advertised. This one will exceed your expectations. Nothing else like it around for the price. I have explored, owned, and/or researched most all of the I/O's in the $100-$750 category. Get it, if it fits your situation. You will never regret it !

The Scarlett 2i2 is absolutely amazing and so durably designed. It is simply a stunning, small red metallic finished inteface from Focusrite, and truly an astounding value. The preamps are so worth the money alone, but then you also get four incredible Scarlett plug-ins bundled with this package: EQ, Gate, Compressor, and Reverb, plus Ableton Lite Live 8. The plug-ins are renowned for a reason. How can you beat this package at the price anywhere? If you only require two ins and outs that will accommodate an instrument and/or XLR input, you need look no further. This package is beyond belief! Plus, it is so well built, easy-to-use and set-up. You just will never regret the investment. I don't know what else to say, but there is just nothing even close to this I/O for even 3-5 x's what it costs.

I'm a saxophonist, bass guitarist and a music teacher and wanted something I can move around. At $150, I was unsure if I was getting. I installed the drivers into my iMac, plugged it in, opened up Garage Band and switched the inputs and outputs to the 2i2. Everything worked perfectly. All of my instruments sound great and I can play along with my fake books and there's no latency at all. Everything is on the front and easy to adjust and control. The halo lights on the front is really helpful with clipping/distorting. Also, the service at Sweetwater is the best. I accidentally order a USB mic and they called me to let me know I had a USB mic and help me get the right condenser mic. Everything was also at my door in 3 days!

For $149 you can't beat this little unit. The pre's are nice, the aluminum unibody is very sturdy. I've recorded vocals with the unit and did a video review on youtube for it and it performs very well. Definitely worth every penny. The ISA One is next on my list.

At first glance i was skeptical, as i have bought many disappointing interfaces over the years. But this little bad boy is nice! I wasnt expecting it to be so compact either. Its something you could definitely travel with without having to sacrifice sound quality. If you dont need that many outputs then this thing is perfect for you. I use it with my NI Maschine so it helps with the latency as well. I really have nothing bad to say about it. The price is right, plus the extra Scarlet plugins they include for free are well worth it alone. I literally set this thing up in 5 minutes, no problems at all, totally dummy proof. if your thinking about buying one go for it, your going to love it.

After some research and considering my budget of around $200, I decided to try the Scarlett. I have used a lot of different I/O DAW devices with connections like USB, firewire, PCI cards with break out box. I read reviews that others liked the Focusrite Saffire 6 with 1.0 USB, so thought this upgrade with USB 2.0 would be even better and for the price I was right on. Easy installation and super sounding. latency is really what I was trying to overcome and this has done it nicely, with the bonus of smooth sounds

I bought it just few days ago.

For home recording, it is just perfect.

beautiful, compact, useful, nice quality. Just perfect combination.

No words need.

I recommend you guys for home recording.

This is actually one of the interfaces I've used. Strongly recommend.

I've been very pleased with this purchase. One of my concerns was latency and whether I'd need to use the direct monitor switch but this has not been an issue at all with my 2013 MacBook Pro. The only critique I have is that the silver monitor and headphone level knobs are a little slick compared to the rubberized input knobs. I'd like them to be a little easier to grip since they don't stick out very far. That is a very minor issue. By far the most important thing is that it sounds very good and has all the features I needed for an extremely low price. If you're thinking about it, grab one!

I'm really impressed with the Scarlett 2i2. For the price, it's impossible to beat, particularly if you consider the software that comes bundled with it.

It's very simple to set up and sounds much better than I expected it to. Its feature set and connectivity is limited but it does what is's supposed to do very, very well. For basic I/O and monitoring, there's not a better piece out there in this price range.

Amazing little audio interface. I actually bought this in the studio set and have been extreamly impressed with my in home recordings. I'm a song writer and this unit works amazingly for fast recordings. The only fault that this unit has is that it does not have a midi plug in. That would be nice to have this function for my midi keyboard.

I orderd Studio One the day before, but other than that this was my first experience with Sweetwater.
I was very pleased with not just the product, but the customer service as well! I know this is supposed to be a review on the product, but I just can't help but rave about their very knowledgable staff. Their like darn wizards over there!
Though if your looking for a good interface for on the road or maybe your just starting out like me, this is definitely the one for you.

I did my homework before I bought the Scarlett 2i2. It was very popular with fellow voice over artists. I run my Rode NT1-A mic and a DBX 286s mic processor thru it and it sounds great! I also run my Korg Drumwave through it for recording. For the price this little interface fit my home studio needs perfectly. Highly recommend it.

It's the SERVICE you guys Provide!!!!

The Scarlett 2i2 is so simple to hook-up, "It was hard for a DUMMY like me to understand!!

THANKS!!

A DJ looking for a unit that could record live sets and the Scarlett 2i2 gets the job done!

The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface is quiet and easy to install, just download your drivers and plug it in. This is a very good piece of equipment, built well, no piece of junk. Thanks to Arend Raby, sales @ Sweetwater for advice on purchasing this product.

Had an older Presonus Audiobox USB with numerous problems. Finally picked up the Scarlett 2i2. What a nice surprise. Clean preamps, good phantom power, and can take a direct in guitar without requiring an additional direct box like my old Audiobox. Easy to setup and clean output. Only thing to note (and Sweetwater gives you the heads up) that your monitor mix is controlled by a switch on the unit. The mix ratio is then controlled by reducing the main output at your daw (the Audiobox had a monitor mix knob). Highly recommend. :-)

This piece of gear is plug and play and works seamlessly with Garage Band...The pre's sound great and zero latency when recording....I like the portability and the phantom power...reasonably priced too

Easy to use. In comparison to my old M-Box Mini. I would recommend this to anyone enjoys writing their own songs and recording their own demos. Like me.

The Scarlett 2i2 does everything it promises to do; great sound, easy set-up and use.

A great interface easy to use. Crystal clear quality a must buy. I am thankful for the information of the salesman who informed me of this powerful interface.

The only reason i bought this is because of my home room studio i got, i needed a cheap price interface and so i decided to check this one out and its awsome i gave it 4.5 and i think it really deserves it, dont think twice just go for it

Using this interface for dry voice and acoustic w/pick-up guitar/ukulele recording. Great sound, easy setup. The one thing that took a little troubleshooting work was the phantom power aspect. I was seeing some mild DC-offset-like behavior in the waveform - until I connected the unit to a powered USB hub. Kind of counter-intuitive for me, as I purposely avoided connecting it to the hub at first. However, my DAW is on the other side of the studio wall and, even though it is close enough to connect devices within USB cable length spec (16' or about 5m), the distance and/or cable combination was introducing the undesirable effect. Connecting to the powered USB hub using the included USB cable resolved the issue.

I am a full time working voiceover artist. I love my business because of the freedom it affords including traveling at will and being able to continue working while traveling. I purchase the 2i2 as a "travel/backup interface to my studio Focusrite Saffire 6 USB interface. This little power house totally gets the job done in every way and then some. My biggest surprise was the volume output of the monitor. It is at least -10db to -15db louder than my Saffire which is great because now I have eliminated having to take my Presonus HP headphone preamp mixer when traveling so I can hear playback loud enough for editing.

I am not an engineer and while I do love the tech side I like to keep things basic and focus on my craft more than many technical things that I don't understand and don't care to. That is what I like about the 2i2. Compact, portable, sounds great and gets the job done with no fuss. Thank you Focusrite for make a simple and professional product.

Great little unit! Very simple to use and above all very good sound for the money. The only thing that would be nice is another headphone jack, but this is unheard of in a unit this small really. Feels solid, metal casing, secure in/outs, solid master nob....the only this that feels a little flimsy is the smaller nobs, but its nothing that im worried about!! This things sounds a lot better than my last interface by MOTU.

This is a fantastic Audio Interface for its price.

The pre-amps sound really good. I usually play an Ibanez GRG 270 through it and the clean tones sound warm and full, which is great. The gain of the preamps can go really high without overdriving.

On a 2012 Mac, running Logic Pro (256 buffer size), I have no issues with latency. In fact, I always record with all the effects on (no direct monitoring), and I've had no problems with it.

I love the bright red (scarlet?) looks and the fact that it is USB powered. Very light and portable!

The only negative I feel is the headphone output is a bit quiet. (0.5 points off for that). Great product otherwise.

I have only had the product for a short time, but it is great so far! Very easy to get started out of the box. It is well made and user friendly. I am using the Sonar X3 as my recording software, which it is compatible with. Looking forward to seeing its full potential! as time goes on. i would definitely recommend this product. The gang at Sweetwater have been most helpful…Thanks again!

IT WAS REALLY AWESOME. THE ONLY THING HIT ME IS IT CREATES A NOISE AND WE CANNOT TAKE AUDIO OUT FROM YOUR SYSTEM

After owning an M-audio box/plastic toy interface/static noise generator and an echo audiofire2, I can safely say this is the best budget audio interface I've had yet. (and my audiofire2 was pretty great, i think)

I do everything in the box, so if I'm ever recording anything it's going to be from one source - and more than likely it's just going to be so I can hook up my phone to play through my speakers, lol. This comes to my only gripe about the Scarlett 2i2 - and that's that you can't gang the levels of the Gain inputs (say for L + R). Again, I hardly use it and you can always tweak close enough that it doesn't matter (or match after the fact if you're recording, say sampling records)

Other than that, I can get <5ms latency (one way out) using Reaper. Absolutely no problems at 48khz/32bit, which I don't think you could ask for better for the price. I love that there are individual knobs for monitor and headphones - something I HATED about my audiofire2 because all volume adjustments had to be done on an app with your mouse.

halos on the inputs are a nice touch. solid build.

what else? not enough outputs to DJ with. so prolly wanna consider another scarlett for that.

verdict: i love it. i don't have to think about my audio interface anymore.

Excellent product. The mic pre-amps are crystal clear and full. The audio playback is simply fantastic. I love it when you don't need to install drivers (though it is recommended). I just plugged it in and was ready to go. The LED halos over the gain knobs is pure class. Absolutely love the scarlet red aluminum unibody chassis. If I had anything to complain about it would have to be that the Line/Inst & Direct Monitoring switches are a little on the fragile-feeling side but other than that can't complain.

The preamps are amazing i'm going to stick with this pre-amp for a while. i highly recommend this for anybody looking to start or for on the road.

An unbelievable value for such a solid Interface. I do voiceover work and use this in my studio with my Blue Baby Bottle and it gives nice warm voice tones. Compact size a huge plus. Occasional use ART Tube Channel Strip for even warmer sounds. Have recorded some guitar through it as well and great sound all the way. Unless you need really high res recording capability this is the way to go. I also enjoy saving money. $150 is a steal!!

I'm using this as my primary interface for my Win8 laptop. I'm running Reason 6.5 as my recording software. This interface sample rate can be manually lowered far enough to have a real feel playing experience while recording. I can monitor both direct or thru the software. Both are useful. Controls are simple and easy. Best part, it doesn't color or add any noise into your signal.

Very nice piece of hardware, and easy to use. I mainly use this for monitoring during video editing or music playback so I don't have a lot of experience with it on the recording side yet. Independent volume controls for monitors and headphones is perfect. Extremely clean output to my KRK Rockit 5s and sub. The only down side is there is a loud pop when starting up the computer. Other than that the device is perfect.

Finally something that connected right up and worked.
That's all I can say, no issues.

does the job well for its price

When I unpacked this I downloaded the latest drivers and plug-in's, then plugged in this unit to do a test recording. I use Sony Sound Forge Pro 10. With this device and using the default settings of 44.1K @ 16 bits, I get a distorted recording. Same setting with Audacity and it works great. Set Sound Forge to 24 bit or higher and it works great, but for some unknown reason it distorts at 16 bit ONLY (so far) with Sound Forge Pro 10.

Tech support wanted me to do a ton of changes which I won't do as I've never had a problem using any other USB interface. BTW, it does the same thing on my laptop as well.

Having said that, I've done several hours of recording (at 24 bit or higher) and love this little box. Plus it's really pretty. The glow indicators around the input level controls remind me of the old "cat-eye" VU meter system. Enjoy!

Needed something quick and cheap after my 1820M finally went south. Was not expecting this level of detailed, quality sound. I'm playing an acoustic w/a Seymour Duncan soundhole pickup through it and it sounds friggin' gorgeous! I don't need to run it through an amp sim anymore to get the sound I'm after. Soaring, clean highs from these preamps! Haven't recorded any vocals yet but I know I'll be smiling from ear to ear. Way better than the 1820M's pre's.
The Scarlett plugs too are so much better than I expected. Like through the roof better than I expected. The Reverb is so lush and beautiful. It's hard to get surgical with the EQ and Compressor because there's no graphic display, but they sound so sweet it's easy to dial in a gorgeous, shimmering tone. These are the best sounding plugins I've heard in a long time. Trust me, the reverb and compressor alone will have you grinning like a Cheshire cat. If you don't need the interface, you at least need these plugins.

Works perfect in macos. Preams sounds natural. My only issue is i could not get sampling rates changed in windows. provided ASIO is useless. Except this, this would perfect choice below $200

This with Ableton and pair of Adam-A7X's.... Hyper-accurate sound....

I am newie in home recording, I was looking for an interface easy to use and great quality sound, well this little thing fits the bill, I ordered on Friday , got it Saturday morning and was recording five minutes later, zero lactancy.

This is my first interface. I'm an amateur musician using Garageband on a MacBook Pro for home recording. It's very easy to use. Simply plug into the USB and you're off. Sort of. The documentation was a little weak in terms of set-up for a beginner like me. That said, I was running my guitar through it and recording within 20 minutes. I haven't explored the software plug-ins too much yet, but so far they are great as well.

I needed a relatively inexpensive portable unit for a small project I was working on. Ryan Sloan (my sales rep) recommended this unit. This unit is great. Plays nice with my mac laptop. Sounds great. Easy to use.

In my opinion, if you want the best, buy an Apogee Duet. That's a fantastic unit. But for a different price point, this Scarlett 2i2 is really, really good.

An added bonus is the Scarlett Plug-In Suite that comes with this unit. The Plug-Ins work well with both GarageBand and FCP X.

Thanks for the recommendation, Ryan! (He's a great guy to work with ... always steers me in the right direction.)

Something under 200,
buy this
better than mbox, apogee

Bought this to replace a working M-Audio Fast Track Pro.
Can't really tell an audible difference but I bank on the Focusrite name to be a bit quieter than the M-Audio. I like it's simplicity, small size and it's price. And the pretty red metal case is quite slick too!

I bought this on the recommendation of my Sweetwater sales associate. He made a great suggestion. Very low self-noise and transparent. I have used it to track an acoustic demo & record vinyl to hi-res audio 24/96 and everything worked well in windows vista using both mixcraft and wavelab. This is the first Focusrite product I've owned and the build quality appears solid and simple, meaning straight foreword and elegant. I haven't used the external monitor feature yet but headphones provided the promised low latency.

I relied on the advise of my salesman on this purchase. This unit worked exactly as he said it would. Biggest bang for the fewest bucks! The main reason I keep coming back to Sweetwater is my salesman, Greg Savino. Greg is like an old friend, he knows me, my needs, and the applications that I use my gear in. If I do have a problem with anthing, no worries; Greg always takes the time to help me solve any problems. He goes out of his way to help me in every way he can..... that is the reason he seems more like a "friend on the inside" than just a salesman.

small USB interface great deal for home studio we all have to start some were I would recommend this for home recording any day of the week !

I like that it doesn't need an outside power supply. It is powered by the usb cable. And it turns off with the computer which should help with its longevity. I use it as a D to A for sound from my computer only. Therefore I can't comment on it's headroom. The last couple units similar to this I purchased of another brand use an outside power supply and would get hot, did not turn off with the computer, and didn't last very long. Also the other brand's headphone and output volume controls interacted. The Scarlett's volume for phones and output are completely separate, which I like much better. I would have given it 5 stars except I don't know how long it will last. So far I am very happy with it.

low noise, good quality! bug somtimes when the computer go to standby but overall nice device for the price! (mac os 10.11.2)

Great gear an great price...

Apart from this device taking over my parameter settings in control panel for buffer adjustments where I'm locked in to 10db max buffer range which somehow confuses my daw putting up constant messages that I lost my ASIO capability, this little (I do mean little) preamp (mostly what I use it for) generates pristine sound quality and is apparently very accurate in tracking honest db levels which to me is of utmost importance for recording purposes. I't is by far superior to the Line 6 UX2 I had been using for several years. Yes.....I recommend the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 unit despite it's obvious shortcomings! ;)

I bought the 2i2 to replace a Duet firewire by Apogee which will no longer be supported with El Capitan. Didn't miss a beat. Yeah, I said that. :) Very pleased with the purchase. As always feel good about buying from Sweetwater with warranty and tech support. I rated this great at four stars. Could be "wow" at five stars but I just don't use it that much to know, but I could have given five stars. Solid. Plug and play with my iMac. Simple to use. What more could I ask? And the price is great. Again ... very pleased with my purchase.

Crystal clear sound. Just plug in the usb to a computer and it's ready. No drivers or software downloads needed. Has XLR or TRS inputs but only has TRS outputs

I'm very satisfied with this purchase. The tech support at Sweetwater is impeccable. My only wish is focusrite will make all of the available software for the 2i2 in AAX format.

Fairly easy to set up and use. Make sure you download the correct version of Ableton 9. I accidentally downloaded the trial version instead of the Lite. The unit is real easy to use any confusion I have had comes from Ableton.

Very good interface for my Pro Tools 11 setup. The only thing I miss is the Monitor Mute. At least when I use it without its driver (Pro Tools 11 doesn't require to download the 2i2 driver), there's no monitor mute. Otherwise, it's a very nice piece of equipment.

I purchased this to use along with my maschine studio for sample input as well as recording vocals in Ableton. It does the trick and the sound quality is great. Also focus rite support is great. I'm not able to review the plugins since I haven't used them yet but they are free so I won't be disappointed if I don't like them and it will be a nice bonus if if I do.

Works as advertised.

Can't say "blown away", but this unit does exactly what I need and was up and running in no time. Very happy I bought it.

The Scarlett 2i2 is outstanding for giving me a very clean connection to my DAW. I recommend it.

This is an excellent pair of mic-pre's and USB digital interface for analogue instruments, with high-z inputs as well. This is probably the best small, portable, well designed and sonically pristeen interface for the price. For a small increase in price, the 214 has 4 unbalanced RCA/Phono outputs with switchable 48v for phantom. Unbeliveable for the price.
Focusrite has always been high qualty gear.

After being contracted for a major narration, the producer suggested I needed an equipment upgrade for sake of quality. With his guidance I contacted Steven Chamoun at Sweetwater. He and my producer discussed my particular needs and determined they would best be met by a Rode microphone and the new Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface. I'm a voice actor and need only 2-in/2 out ports.

My new equipment arrived the day following my order. I had already downloaded the necessary drivers so I was able to install the new interface immediately and without any problems [for me, a decided miracle].

The combination of the new microphone and interface produced a dramatic increase in the audio quality of my narration. I completed my narration to the total satisfaction of the client and both the audio and video producers ~ and to my own satisfaction ~ and delight!!!

So far it seams to work great it is doing what I need it to do with my DWS. I would buy one again .

Intuitive piece. Still learning the full work flow of creating my podcast but I am proud to own this as part of my equipment and I have all the confidence in what it does.

Because I was trying to interface the Scarlett with Adobe Audition instead of using the accompanying software, I had trouble at first getting the sound to record, register as a wave and to hear it played back through the headphones. But I called for Technical support and they were excellent. The product works great and the sound results are comparable to the E-MU 0202 that I had previously used. I've already laid down my first track and am excited to get composing again.

this was a perfect fit for my first audio interface. I was going to buy something more elaborate, but realized with just 1 or 2 tracks at a time, this should suffice. My only gripe is the volume needs to be turned up substantially, it may be my computers sound chip but I'm not sure at this point. But, if I turn up enough on the gain everything sounds and works great!

i run this Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 with a Blue Spark microphone and Adobe Audition CS6 on Hip Hop/R&B production on vocals....it does what you want it to do.....good quality on preamps better than interfaces in this price range....i wish it had the mix/playback knob that it has on the 2i4 and midi input/output which wouldve made it 5 stars definetely....but overall check this out....it is very convenient and high quality for this price range....as long as you have a good condenser mic for vocals, this, good laptop, headphones and some decent monitors....you have a excellent startoff mobile solution!!

Easy to set up, controls are basic, sounds good, and it's reliable

If you're running a DAW mainly for electronic music, this gadget is perfect. I use it to run Reason 7. Sound is crystal clear with no discernable noise / feedback.
Something I learned about this - use USB 2.0 or higher, standard USBs don't provide enough power to use this device.

Quite happy. I have had 2 USB and 2 Firewire units from other brands. This is the first one that worked as I expected and did not have issues with crosstalk or bleed from input to output. They actually have real people to answer questions. Complaint? Well I did add a little white stripe on the two volume knobs. I did extensive testing on the unit and any short-comings I lay at the price point. You need to spend twenty times as much to do better. ( You are not going to get 15V overhead in a USB powered box) Sweewatater knew their stuff when they sold me on this box. I don;t use the software sweet.

As a laptop multi-tracking novice, I was looking for a clean, versatile and inexpensive audio interface. This little box is just the ticket for one-person audio production. I was sure I would also need an additional pre-amp for my EV RE-20 (famously low-gain) but much to my delight the Scarlett takes the signal just fine, there is enough boost in that little red box. I am happy!

I like the item a lot. It sounds pretty good and it's super easy to use. The best thing about it is there is no latency. If you are on a budget, you can't go wrong.

I like the item a lot. It sounds pretty good and it's super easy to use. The best thing about it is there is no latency. If you are on a budget, you can't go wrong.

has surprisingly good, crisp sound, no latency that i can tell. very portable, i take it from room to room when im recording different instruments. great for hooking up to a laptop and taking it on the road for when that moment of inspiration comes. i dont us the Ableton Live that comes with it. i couldnt figure out how to use it for the life of me. but it works just fine with any software you prefer.
and of course, ordering it thru Sweetwater, it'll be at your door the next day if you order it the morning before. fastest shipping and customer service you can get!

I got this to replace an M-Audio Delta 44 which was not compatible with my new computer. I'd say that the recording quality is equal to or better than my previous interface. There is a small amount of latency, but this is easily overcome. I haven't really used the mic preamps as I have a mixer with descent preamps built in, so I can't rate that aspect of the gear. The Focusrite Scarlett was easy to set up, and the drivers worked well. I would recommend this product to anyone who needs a 2 in/ 2 out USB audio interface.

I've already reviewed this once but felt the need to do an update for those who play guitar. It doesn't handle high impediance. Humbuckers will clip the input stage with ease. You need an attenuator if you don't already have one. Even hot wound single coils will clip it when you're really gettin' after it. Not a big deal but I think it should have come with an inline attenuator or a pad on the interface itself. The pre is so good I would have gladly paid a little more than $149 for an included attenuator.
Again, not a huge deal, but it would have been nice to have at least known about it upfront. That being said, the pre is still velvety gorgeous and very quiet for a budget pre. You certainly won't find a better pre at this price. I got some gorgeous vocals out of this pre. It'll suffice until I've got enough coin for an ISA 4 channel and AD card. I can't even begin to imagine how crazy sweet that will sound. I've come to the conclusion Focusrite will now be my pre of choice from now on... I'm sold!

Great interface. No Midi and the driver could be better. Other than that this thing is great.

At first I was a little nervous since I was using a MAudio interface....But now I will not use anything else...!
It is awesome, but would just like to have the option of being able to reduce the incoming mix sound into the 2i2..
Love the peak color change.....

bought this for my sons birthday. must work as expected cause I've heard no complains.

Exactly what it looks like - inexpensive simple interface with great sounding mic preamps. Has worked great so far - love the sound.
My only wish is that there was a way to adjust the level of the zero latency feed from the preamps to the headphones. There is no level control - just on and off.

I bought this unit to replace a 1xlr, 1 line input M audio fast track. I needed an interface with just two channels that had two xlr inputs with phantom power for stereo recording. I love the sound of the unit but it took me a while to get it configured. I cannot use the focusrite driver within Pro Tools. I have to use the ASIO4All driver, which works great. I have contacted tech support and they know of the issue. Of course, using the ASIO driver is perfectly fine, Its inconvenient that the Focusrite driver did not work.

Purchased this to record from a tape deck to a computer. Works just fine. This is my first use of this type of device, so a comparison isn't possible, however, I'm very pleased with the results. Very simple to use too!

I just got this AI to upgrade from an old m-audio mobilpre that I've had for 5 yrs. For the price range this is a great product. I did some tests with some old recordings, and finally understand what people mean when they say the mic pre's are cleaner. I did have some initial issues with the driver setup as it seems to be very picky about what other usb devices you have plugged in while using the card. Everything else seems to work as it should. The construction on some of the switches feel flimsy, and I noticed a weird issue when switching from direct monitoring to off made the output to my monitors louder. I'm not sure I could ask for a lot more for the price as I am using this mainly for a decent A/D converter and mic pre.

Good sound. The only complaint is the latency but thats the nature of usb interfaces. I miss my delta 1010lt..don't hesitate if you are considering this one though.

The Scarlett 2i2 is big help if you have a latency problem, but it lacks the punch of the other combination. It is easy to use (I used it and I as dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to engineering).

My 2i2 has been great for awhile, but now the inputs periodically sputter out and become unresponsive. I must turn both knobs to 10 and yell into a mic until the input indicators crackle alive and emerge from their coma. Then it's okay again; maybe for the rest of the day; maybe for the next 10 minutes.
But when using guitar in instrument mode, I have to turn it down to nearly zero to prevent it from going into the red.
I wish it would make up its' mind.

bought this couple months back and preamps sound horrible, get an apogee duet or universal audio if you want clean pro sound.

This is a good mic pre for any home studio on a budget. You might contend with some latency issues but overall it's a solid piece of gear. The plug ins provided are good but once you start improving and upgrading (Waves, Slate, etc) and taking advantage of some free VST's found on the web, you may never use them again.

I have to give this a 3 because of the output. I mean seriously, what good is an audio interface if you can't hear it? The headphone output puts out more watts than the monitor output - DERP! Maybe I just need a Y-cable instead of a better interface.
It does sound good, especially for the price range, and features like 2 XLR inputs with phantom power make it a viable option IF you have something else to listen to the results through.

I only wish it had a mix/minus for studio monitors. Otherwise, it's great!

I'm using this interface with an old Dell XPS laptop running Mint Linux (don't remember the version right now) and using Audacity as my DAW. Everything functions pretty well. I'm a little disappointed in the level of audio I get from my dynamic microphone, but I can work with it.

Obviously I have no use for the "Ableton" software unless I decide to go the Windoze route, but I'm content with what I'm doing so far.

Using with PT10 on Mac. Setup was a breeze. Plugged it up and it all just worked. Probably very good for low volume applications but totally feel down on me when trying to record my Blues Deluxe Reissue with a couple of good condenser mics. Next i will try runing through an aux mixer first to see if I can lower the levels but the 2i2 was clipping huge even with interface gain at zero and mic at -10. Scanned web and seems to be a common problem - supposedly really good for vocals and aioustic though

I've been using my Scarlett 2i2 casually and delicately for about ten months or so. It's a fine performer with a good, clear sound and great mic preamps. Easy set up and smooth audio. However, the build quality leaves much to be desired. The knobs seem fairly decent for this price point, but the switches are cheap! I'd gladly pay more for real metal toggle switches over these flimsy things. In addition to feeling very loose when moving them, I discovered that all of the plastic toggles are cracking and splitting down the shaft! I've babied this thing since day one and there is no excuse for components so poorly made. Rather than send it back to have them replace the switches with more of the same junk parts, I dropped a tiny dollop of CA glue in the switch tips to hold them together for continued use. This melted the plastic a tad, and the switch tips don't look as good, but at least they are somewhat stable and slowed in their whirlwind demise! Yes, I'm aware that I probably voided my warranty, but what good is a warranty on something so cheap? I don't expect to own this more than six months to a year longer, so I'll just keep repairing the switches as needed until the rest of the unit gives out, which won't be too long from now I would expect. Additionally, the nuts holding the output jacks in place are plastic that won't hold up should they ever need a tightening, and 1/4" input jacks can be a bit touchy, with less than solid contact.

Do yourself a favor, invest in your tools, invest in yourself and purchase something that will last! If Focusrite only invested a few more dollars on a small handful of quality components, they would have a really nice piece of entry-level recording equipment here. I hope it holds out until I can afford an upgrade. Verdict: Scarlett 2i2, almost a good decision.

If you are needing Input 1 and 2 to be anything other than right / left you may want to look elsewhere. This unit will not run line 1 or 2 into the computer as anything other than line 1 = left / line 2 = right. Seems it would have been really easy and cheap to have added a simple switch that switched back and forth. Oh Well.

Really bad drivers and software controls. The only thing it let me change in the software is the buffer size and it's in MS instead of samples. Stuggles to automaticly switch sample rates. If i run a virtual guitar amp in 96k and starts a standard video file on the computer in 48k, the drivers will crash instead of trying to automaticly switch the videofile to run in 96k. Never had this problem with my old soundcard wich was alot cheaper then this one. Instrument signals are a bit hot. I had to trim my guitar pick up's to not clip.
Preamps are nice and clean, and the hardware interface is really great. Focusrite got a really bad rep for making lazy drivers and this being my only experience with em i have to agree. Hardware gets a 4,5 software gets a 1.

This product works great. It has everything you need to have a decent sounding recording. However, if your looking to get a studio quality mix recording just using this product, that is most likely not going to happen. The two subjects of a good recording are a great mic pre and a great sounding microphone. I would strongly advise to save a little more money and get the Apollo Twin. MUCH better mic pre! Remember the average consumer doesn't know a lot about audio. no matter If something is rated 5 stars..DO YOUR RESEARCH!!

Yes, I agree that the sound quality is quite good, but only being able to record on the left channel from input 1, or the right channel from input 2 is simply ridiculous. It needs to be able to record as mono as well, and that's not possible unless you are using a specifically designed DAW. (I'm using the Telestream Wirecast video studio for recording speeches and interviews- who ever heard of voices coming from either the left or right of the sound field? They need to be mono!)

I purchased the Scarlett 2i2 for interfacing a cardioid microphone with a Macintosh laptop using Audacity 2.0.5 DAW for recording of multiple audio and instrumental tracks. The advertisement indicated the Direct monitoring function would eliminate latency encountered when recording a live track in real time while listening to a pre recorded track being played back from the DAW. Following the instructions included with the unit for Direct monitoring, the latency was not corrected. To correct the difference between playback and real time I was forced to modify the latency through trial and error within the DAW recording adjustment feature.

Once you get it going never unplug it. I waste hundreds of dollars on plugins just to fight four HOURS with this thing. I don't care about the forums communities or anything. Don't make it so complicated for everyday user error or MOVING to a new apartment.
This thing hasn't been worked since the first install and I have to fight with forums, downloads, installs, guessing games and troubleshooting just because of some things that might be a cable, a loose connection, a wrong driver, a wrong setting, a wrong preference a wrong cable, a wrong everything.

I guess if you have a MAC, it is great, but for Windows, this piece of equipment simply does not work. 1) having to link to Youtube videos for instructions is cumbersome, 2) Having to download a bunch of drivers and players when it is advertised as plug-and-play is disingenuous, and 3) the fact that only the installers are downloaded, but once you run the installers, the applications are not present is really kick in the teeth. Monumental piece of crap.

This thing is a total waste of time. I would never tell anyone I bought it. Stay as far away from this as you can. Nothing but problems from the first day

I wasted a lot of time recording with this unit trying to get a pro or at least a usable sound from the preamps . I will never purchase another usb recording interface again. The sound is thin and unprofessional. I am weary from all this home studio recording, and from now on will go to a pro studio to record. i wish all the false hype on these units would stop. The people that gave these great review are clearly not very experienced in pro sound.

This thing is a hunk of junk. I have had mine for about a year now and it has been more problems than its worth. I think the main problem stems from the fact that the internal clock is simply not stable. If I record something using this interface in 44.1k sample rate, the audio file will playback on other interfaces the sound is a bit slower and pitched down. Which seems to indicate a refresh rate or clock problem. (I typically use 8 channel MOTU's but this also happens on the builtin core audio interface too)

I have to reboot my computer to get it to work properly and even then, it still falls back in to its old ways within an hour.

Don't buy this hunk of junk!

Per case opened with Focusrite:

"The Scarlett 2i2 instrument input applies between +10dB and +55dB gain depending on the monitor position. The input impedance is 1MOhm. It sounds like even 10dB of gain is enough to clip the signal with your guitar."

With the gain all the way down, my guitar clipped.

Focusrite recommends an external unit to convert to line level.

The mic pre's sounded good for the price, unfortunately this unit wouldn't do everything I needed.